Travel hack: How to save money while you vacation

By End Text Wrecks
| Posted Jul 31st, 2017 @ 8:00am

This story is sponsored by End Text Wrecks. Take the pledge not to text and drive, by recording yourself dancing "the Wookiee".

If it feels like you're going crazy waiting for your next vacation, you’re not the only one. It turns out vacations really do keep us sane.

However, going over your budget when you're on vacation can quickly turn a fun time sour.

You can keep your vacation a source of relaxation by using some of these travel hacks to keep your budget on track.

Grocery stores, not restaurants

Although restaurants are convenient and, especially when you're traveling, can introduce you to exciting new dishes, going out can be expensive.

While you’re on vacation, using ingredients from the grocery store and making sandwiches or other inexpensive meals will cut your costs.

Here's an example: one peanut butter and jelly sandwich, made with ingredients from a purchased loaf of bread and full jars of ingredients, costs on average 28 to 33 cents.

If you're traveling abroad, other sandwich ingredients (like Nutella) are more common but are still a delicious and cheap way to keep your vacation inexpensive.

While you might want to splurge and eat in restaurants once in a while, using fruit, granola bars and cheaper foods for small meals will cut your costs.

Bookings and transportation research in advance

When it comes to airplane, bus and train tickets, doing your research before you leave for your vacation can help you save.

Booking trains, buses, hotels and hostels last-minute can saddle you with extra fees. Additionally, the day of the week you book your travel or stay matters.

On Fridays, hostels and hotels often hike their room prices. If you schedule in advance, you can avoid these extra costs.

Many travel companies provide sales, promotions or even accidental fares to the watchful traveler who is planning ahead. Find the best travel search engines and clear your browser history to find some of the least expensive fares before they get snapped up.

Budgets and watching transaction history

It's easy to overspend when you're exploring a new city or country.

Before you go, make a budget with target amounts to spend each day on food, transportation, souvenirs and lodging.

Check your online bank account often to ensure you're hitting your spending targets. This will also make it easier to catch potentially fraudulent charges.

Travel-friendly credit cards

From flight mile rewards to no international processing fees, credit and debit cards provide different types of rewards for the travel-minded customer.